


broken glass

by hyacinthis



Category: Sally Face (Video Games)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Brother Feels, Brotherly Affection, Brotherly Angst, Brotherly Bonding, Brotherly Love, Brothers, Dreams and Nightmares, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family Dynamics, Family Feels, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, If you’re hoping for SalLarry you came to the wrong place sorry, Other, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Sal and Larry are brothers, Strictly brothers, Visions, they’re brothers and best friends and that’s as far as it goes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-07
Updated: 2019-01-07
Packaged: 2019-10-06 06:54:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17340686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hyacinthis/pseuds/hyacinthis
Summary: He drinks the rest of it down, walking to the trashcan to throw away his straw. He’s walking back to the sink when loud steps and heavy breathing from upstairs interrupt his thoughts. For a moment, he’s frozen in his spot, his fight or flight mode activating. He slowly takes a couple of more steps to the sink, then the footsteps from upstairs turn to running, then the breathing turns to screaming, then all of a sudden Sal hears a crash and he’s seeing white.





	broken glass

It wasn’t the first time he had woken up in the middle of the night, gasping and unaware of his surroundings. It certainly wouldn’t be the last time either. His breath feels deafening in the silence of his bedroom, like he’s going to wake up the whole apartment if he doesn’t stop breathing. He closes his eye and gently rubs at it, trying to get the stars out of them. He feels sick to his stomach, he needs to get some water. He hates getting sick, especially after a nightmare.

He sits up, hands trembling, and pulls the blankets back. He swings both of his legs over the side of the bed and dangles them for a moment, just trying to ground himself. He stands and shuffles his way over to his dresser, feeling along the top of it until his hands reach his mask. His hands are shaking too badly to buckle it in the back, so he just holds it up to his face.

He leaves his room and presses his other hand to the wall, feeling his way along it to try and keep himself from tripping. Bad depth perception and dark hallways typically don’t mix very well for Sal. But, amazingly, he makes it to the kitchen in one piece. He switches on the light then shuffles over to the cabinet. The cold feeling of the tile on his bare feet certainly helps to wake him up a bit more. He grabs a glass then walks over to the sink, filling it halfway with some water. He picks himself up a straw from his dispenser then plops it into his glass, drinking it down quickly.

He glances over to the oven clock. 3:13 AM. Not surprised. It’s during these hours that Sal is usually awake. There’s something magic about the number three, there must be. Like clockwork, Sal is always awake sometime within 3:00 and 4:00 AM. He finishes his first glass of water with a satisfied sigh. He’s starting to feel better, he can at least say he’s a little more aware of his surroundings. Waking up unsure of his location and surroundings is, by far, Sal’s least favorite thing.

He turns on his heel and fills himself up another glass of water, almost completely full this time. He’s going to have to piss in the morning, but he doesn’t care. He leans against the sink and slips the straw under his mask, starting to drink much more slowly this time. 

_Things have been so different._ He thinks to himself, still holding his mask up securely with one hand. _Dad is happy, Lisa is happy, Larry and I are brothers… I guess I would go as far as to say that I’m happy._

He pauses to clear his throat, taking a shaky breath. All the water in the world wouldn’t ever be able to stop hipost-nightmare shakes.

_My friends really love and care about me. I really love and care about them. We’re all getting ready to move in together in this super nice house that Todd somehow found… I wonder how he found that house… Maybe his parents had some connections or something. Either way, it’s the perfect place for all of us. It’ll be an environment that’s totally… Us._

He turns again and fills his glass, stopping halfway.

_It’s gonna be really different, not being in a house with dad. I mean it’s not like I’m going to far. I can run back down here or he can run right up there if need be. And I’ll always visit. Besides, I’ll have Larry with me too. It’s not like I’m leaving my whole family behind._ He pauses and rolls his eyes at himself. _You’re acting like you’re moving a billion states away, you’re just going down the street, Sal._

He mindlessly swirls his straw around in his drink. He’s finally starting to feel better. Better enough to at least lay down and think about something other than nightmares. He’ll just finish this glass of water and--

Sal pauses when he hears a loud noise from upstairs. He looks up at the kitchen ceiling, holding his mask back and sipping his water quietly. Maybe something just fell up there… Nothing, Sal is sure of it.

He pushes himself off of the counter, almost done with his water when he hears a second, louder noise from upstairs. Loud enough to make him flinch. He swallows hard, glancing down at his glass. Literally, just a couple more sips and he can go back to his room. 

He drinks the rest of it down, walking to the trashcan to throw away his straw. He’s walking back to the sink when loud steps and heavy breathing from upstairs interrupt his thoughts. For a moment, he’s frozen in his spot, his fight or flight mode activating. He slowly takes a couple of more steps to the sink, then the footsteps from upstairs turn to running, then the breathing turns to screaming, then all of a sudden Sal hears a crash and he’s seeing white.

A warm sensation rushes over his body. A comforting, but almost threatening, feeling. One that he’s become fairly familiar to. He isn’t sure what this white space of his is or what purpose it serves. Sometimes it appears when Sal most needs it to and other times when he least needs it to. It’s helpful, but also extremely in the way. He can’t even count on one finger all the times he’s missed lessons in class because he’s been transported to this white space.

This time, he doesn’t have his mask and he’s in his pajamas. His hair is pulled back into two tight ponytails and his bangs are pinned back with a bobby pin. He walks through the white space for a while, the warmth slowly turning to bone chilling cold the further he goes. In the far distance, he sees a mirror reflecting his every move. No, he doesn’t want to see himself right now. He can’t.

He turns and starts to walk towards the way he came. The warmth washes over him again and, in the distance, he sees a mirror again. For a moment, he stops, brows furrowed. He starts to turn the other way, slower this time, and isn’t very happy to see that the mirror has moved closer. He looks back in the other direction and the second mirror his inched its way closer. And they both keep getting closer, and closer, and closer each time Sal looks away from either of them. They keep moving towards him until they have him pinned between them. Sal shakes his head, squeezing his eye shut. 

“Stop, please, stop it.” He says in a weak voice. “Please, I can’t do this right now, please.”

Then they start chanting his name. Over and over until it becomes just noise, loud, screeching noises. They reach out and grab him, shaking him, trying to get him to move.

“Sal.”

“Stop it! Leave me alone, _please!_ ”

“Sal!”

“I said _stop it!_ ”

“Sal! Can you hear me?”

Sal opens his eye, breathing just as heavily as when he woke up from his nightmare. He stares down at the ground in front of him, head swimming. He reaches up with a trembling hand and touches his cheek, unhappy to find it wet with tears and even more unhappy when the realization that he doesn’t have his mask on hits him. 

Almost blindly, he starts to reach out, feeling across the floor for his prosthetic. It has to be somewhere nearby, it _has_ to be. He needs it, he doesn’t want to think about his face right now.

“Hey, Larry, try and get him to stay still.” Comes his dad’s tired voice. “He doesn’t need to cut himself on any more of this glass.”

“Yeah, no worries.” Larry’s voice answers. 

Sal is dizzy, he feels arms around him, carefully pulling him close. But he can’t help but frantically try to squirm away.

“No!” He cries. His voice doesn’t even sound like his anymore. “Please, let me go, I haven’t done anything wrong!”

“Shh, hey, easy dude.” Larry says quietly, pulling the smaller man into his lap. 

Sal is squirming and fighting and crying until he can’t anymore. He just sits in Larry’s arms and trembles, gripping the ends of his hair as if it’s the only thing tethering him to this world. Larry rocks him back and forth, rubbing slow circles up and down his back. Subconsciously, Sal feels like a child. He feels the same way that he did after his mother died. Weak and vulnerable and pathetic. He lets out a heavy sob without meaning to, finally giving in and pressing his face into Larry’s T-Shirt. 

“Where’s his prosthetic, do you think that might calm him down?” Lisa mutters as Henry continues to sweep up the floor. 

“If he works himself up too much while he has it on, he might suffocate.” Henry sighs. “Will you do me a favor, Lisa?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“Grab the first aid kit and clean up his hands for me.” He grabs a dust pan next to the trash can and carefully starts to sweep up the broken glass. “Larry, if you want to take him to the couch, I’m sure that would be much safer.”

“Yes sir.” Larry says.

He shifts a little bit and picks Sal up with ease. He walks into the living room and sits on the couch, holding Sal in his lap. Sal feels awful, he’s evidently woken up the whole household. He inhales shakily, trying to calm himself down, but nothing seems to work.

“Sally,” Lisa says gently, resting a hand on his shoulder. “Will you let me see your hands, honey?”

Sal holds out one trembling hand, suddenly realizing they’re coated in a thick layer of blood. He looks at Larry’s shirt, Sal’s bloody handprints on it, and shakes his head.

“What… What did I do?” He asks shakily, seemingly more panicked than he was a moment ago. “Oh, _God_ , what did I do?”

“You just dropped a glass is all.” Larry explains. “No big deal, little dude. It happens.”

“Why am I bleeding?”

“You were trying to find your prosthetic, honey.” Lisa says. “You didn’t even realize there was glass all over the floor.”

Sal watches her remove small pieces of glass with tweezers, her reading glasses slipping down her nose. Larry rubs Sal’s shoulder gently, resting his head on top of the shorter man’s head.

“You’re okay, Sal.” Larry says quietly. “Accidents happen.”

“What time is it?” Sal asks

“4:48.”

“What?”

“4:48.” Henry repeats as he sits down next to his sons.

“How long was I…?”

“A good while, champ.” He reaches out and feels Sal’s scarred forehead, then one of his cheeks. “How’re you feeling? You’re not sick are you?”

“No, no, no.” Sal clears his throat, trying hard to stop the tears from rolling down his cheeks. “I… I had a bad dream then I can to come get some water and… I heard something, I think.” 

Henry nods his head then leans over, giving Sal a kiss on the head. He rubs his back and gives him a sympathetic smile.

“You know, you had really bad nightmares when we were getting ready to move here too.”

“Y-Yeah, I guess I did.” Sal says. He doesn’t think moving jitters is what caused his nightmares. “That must’ve been it. Big life changes, y’know?”

“I know, kiddo.”

“Would you mind giving me your other hand, Sally?” Lisa asks gently.

Sal hands it over, looking at Larry’s shirt again.

“Sorry about your shirt.” He says quietly. 

“I was growing out of it anyways, man. Don’t sweat the small stuff.”

Sal sits in silence for a moment, watching Lisa clean and bandage his other hand. None of them seemed too bad. If they were, they would’ve just taken him to the hospital. _Probably just a bunch of little scratches._ Sal thinks.

“Do you want another glass of water?” Larry asks.

“I’m okay.” Sal says.

“I won’t let you drop it this time, don’t worry.”

“No, really, I’m okay.”

“Do you want anything to eat?” Lisa asks. “Do you think you might be hungry?”

“I… I think I just need to go back to bed.”

“You can in just a second, champ.” Henry says, patting his back.

His father stands and walks into the kitchen. He picks up Sal’s prosthetic off of the kitchen table and walks back into the living room.

“I gave it a quick scrub, so hopefully any glass that might have been in there is out. I think you should just wait until you’re more awake to put it on.”

“Okay.” Sal nods.

Lisa finishes up his other hand then leans forward, giving Sal a kiss on the forehead, then Larry a kiss on the cheek.

“You okay, Sal?” Lisa asks, putting a hand on his shoulder.

“I will be.” He says.

“If you need anything, call us.” Lisa says. “We’re just one took over, honey.”

Henry rubs his face tiredly then glances over at the clock. He looks over at the boys and smiles to himself.

“You’d think you two had known each other your whole lives.” He says. “I think you compliment each other well. The terrible two.”

“Yeah, Sal’s a pretty cool brother.” Larry shrugs with a smile.

“Get to bed, kids. Aren’t you going to help Todd’s boyfriend move in tomorrow?”

“We’re starting with him, yeah.” Sal says.

He slowly slips out of Larry’s lap and stands. His legs are a little shaky, but he feels Larry’s hand on his back keeping him stable.

“Do you want me to walk you to your room?” Larry asks.

“Honestly, if you just want to sleep in there with me tonight, that’d be great.” 

“Sure thing, bro.”

Larry follows Sal back into his room. Sal crawls directly into bed and Larry is sure to turn on a lamp in case Sal wakes up with nightmares a second time. He crawls over Sal and pulls off his shirt, tossing it into a corner of the room. He ruffles Sal’s hair then gives him a kiss on the head.

“Wake me up if you need anything, little dude.”

“I will, don’t worry.” Sal says, already starting to drift off.

**Author's Note:**

> y’all better not have read this as SalLarry 🔫 they are brothers that LOVE and CARE abt each other that is IT  
> anyways, hope you guys enjoyed!!! i really love sally face, i’m actually pulling together a cosplay for sal and i already have most of the materials so i’m like,,,, suuuuuper excited  
> if you guys liked this, please leave some comments!! y’all comments are what fuel me to write more. <3


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